Handgun Control

In their letter May 24, Karen Quandt and Bonnie Lubin decry the fact that "nothing has changed to prevent the purchase and possession of handguns by persons in Illinois who have no business having them." Since the recently imposed handgun ban in Winnetka makes it illegal for any citizen to purchase or possess one, why don`t they just say what they mean? It has been shown time and time again that legislation of this type has no effect on the criminal use of firearms.

U.S. atrocities When will we hear our political candidates discussing something as important and relevant as violence in our colleges, schools, businesses, neighborhoods and homes? If they want to change something, then let's talk about making schools a safe haven for kids, not guns. The only common factor in our recent epidemic of U.S. atrocities is the use of guns. -- Bill Murry Downers Grove Strict gun laws My prayers go out to the loved ones of all of those students massacred at...

Dear Ann Landers: I grew up reading your column, so I know how you feel about handguns. I didn`t agree with you because my dad always kept a loaded gun in the drawer beside his bedside table. "You gotta be ready for the scum that breaks in," he would say. "They all carry guns, and I want to get them first." Last January someone broke into our home, but unfortunately the guy got Dad first. We buried him a week before his 44th birthday. Now no one will ever convince me that a gun in the drawer...

One of the more notorious comments of the 2000 campaign came from an official of the National Rifle Association who boasted that if George W. Bush won, "we'll have a president ... where we'll work out of their office." Granted, the Texan is no fan of gun control. But he made a commendable effort earlier this month to take on gun violence, essentially promising to adopt and expand an effective program started in Richmond, Va. That's good. It's a program that has been applauded both by the NRA and the...

Encouraged by President Clinton's pledge to sign the so-called Brady Bill into law and growing public concern about handgun violence, the House rushed Monday to reintroduce gun control legislation. "This is the last time we have to do this . . . it will pass this time," Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told a group of exuberent supporters of the bill at a news conference. He was joined by members of the House and Senate including Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine)

Comparing advocates of gun rights to freedom fighters, National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston encouraged hundreds of people who packed a conference center Tuesday to vote for Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Heston and other NRA officers made appearances at three Michigan rallies Tuesday to encourage voters to turn away from Democratic Vice President Al Gore. Heston said it was especially important to elect Bush because the next president could appoint as many as four U.S. Supreme Court...

On Sept. 2 The Tribune printed a letter from John Barnett that was unfairly critical of Ann Landers. He claimed that she sits on the board of directors of Handgun Control, Inc. This is not true. While Ann Landers has advocated handgun control for years, she has no official connection whatsoever with Handgun Control, Inc.

To hear Al Gore tell it, George W. Bush is better qualified to be head of the Dalton gang than president of the United States. Democrats think the governor is vulnerable on the issue of guns, mainly because he supported a law allowing trigger-happy Texans to keep their six-shooters close at hand wherever they go. This record, Gore assumes, will not be appealing to suburban women who have reservations about letting their children play with water pistols....

There has been no issue more contentious than the felony status for unlawful use of a weapon. I have never seen the media more critical of individual legislators, especially Senate President James "Pate" Philip. It was inconceivable to me that a compromise could be reached that would find the National Rifle Association and handgun control on the same side. No one is more responsible for resolving this stalemate than President Philip and Sen. Ed Petka (R-Plainfield).

There has been no issue more contentious than the felony status for unlawful use of a weapon. I have never seen the media more critical of individual legislators, especially Senate President James "Pate" Philip. It was inconceivable to me that a compromise could be reached that would find the National Rifle Association and handgun control on the same side. No one is more responsible for resolving this stalemate than President Philip and Sen. Ed Petka (R-Plainfield).

Nelson T. "Pete" Shields III, a founder of the advocacy group Handgun Control, died Monday at his home in Greenville, Del. He was 69. Mr. Shields died of cancer, said Susan Whitmore, a spokeswoman for the organization. The organization played a major role in congressional passage of legislation in 1986 that outlawed armor-piercing bullets and the importation of cheap handgun parts. Mr. Shields had been an executive of Du Pont Co. for 26 years when his son, Nelson IV, was...

This is regarding Stephen Young's commentary (Mar. 17) about National Rifle Association members disrupting gun-control meetings. Disrupting meetings and shouting down speakers is a common NRA tactic and a perfect example of NRA hypocrisy. The NRA members will fight to the death for their constitutional right to bear arms but the right to freedom of speech for those thatwho disagree with their agenda is another story. Ask Sarah Brady of Handgun Control how many death threats she has received over the past few years.

Ten years ago, on March 30, 1981, John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan with a Saturday Night Special. Although Reagan recovered, Press Secretary Jim Brady was crippled for life by Hinckley's bullet. If there had been a law requiring a background check and a waiting period before handgun purchases, Hinckley would have been stopped. But because of the National Rifle Association's might in Washington, there is no waiting period. It's a compelling story, and it's all true, except the...

Even President Clinton's harshest critics have to concede one thing: He's a masterful politician. What basketball coach Tex Winter is to the triangle offense, Clinton is to triangulation politics. Now he has the National Rifle Association and Handgun Control Inc. on the same page. This wasn't a particularly crafty maneuver. Clinton simply listened to the gun lobby's persistent complaints that his administration has pushed for new gun laws while failing to enforce the ones already on...

In this country, do we have a government by the people or a government by the National Rifle Association? There are only two important considerations in the gun control issue. All of the other ideas depend on just these two. The first is simply that handgun control is not the same thing as denying the right to bear arms. With or without handgun control I will, if I`ve a mind to, carry a buffalo gun around with me to hunt buffalo or to defend myself. Everyone else may do that, too--if...

President Clinton is planning to announce an initiative that the White House is calling the biggest gun-enforcement push in history, a $280 million plan to hire 500 enforcers of firearms laws and 1,100 gun-crime prosecutors. The initiative, which Clinton is to announce Tuesday on a visit to Boston and formally propose next month in his 2001 budget plan, removes any doubt that Clinton hopes to make gun control a major piece of his legacy. While the president long has vowed...

Once again, the politicians are panic-stricken. Sarah Brady (Handgun Control Inc.) Mayor Daley, and now Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins are trying to punish legitimate gun owners, because of another series of killings. Illinois has one of the most stringent controls in the country and Chicago has had a ban on handguns for 10 years. Until the black market in weapons is stopped and those who use guns while committing crimes are punished severely, the problem will go on and on. Take our legal guns away and...

DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba is trying to make it easier for gun owners to comply with a state law that holds them responsible if a minor gets ahold of a weapon and uses it unlawfully. Beginning Jan. 1, the new law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to leave a firearm where it can be accessed by a person age 14 or younger, and then used to cause death or great bodily harm. The law does not apply if the youth has been issued a firearms owner's identification card. Minors...

There are a lot of stories in the newspaper every day about violence and murders, but none have stirred up the emotions I feel about the killings at the University of Iowa. It is beyond comprehension that a student would be so distraught over not getting an award that he would kill the person who did receive the award, several other people who were in the department and then himself. What a tragedy! This incident and many others only reinforce the urgent need for handgun control.

The article accompanying "Anne, Get Your Gun" (May 2), discussing my book "More Guns, Less Crime" (University of Chicago Press, 1998), made several inaccurate claims. Despite the claims in the article, my research looked at much more than just the "impact of laws that allow guns to be carried outdoors." My book analyzed FBI crime statistics for all 3,054 American counties from 1977 to 1994 as well as extensive cross-county information on accidental gun deaths and suicides. This is by far the largest study ever...